José Francisco Chaves

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José Chaves
Delegate to the
U.S. House of Representatives
from the New Mexico Territory's
at-large district
In office
February 20, 1869 – March 3, 1871
Preceded byCharles P. Clever
Succeeded byJosé Gallegos
In office
March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1867
Preceded byFrancisco Perea
Succeeded byCharles P. Clever
Personal details
Born
José Francisco Chaves

(1833-06-27)June 27, 1833
Padillas, New Mexico, Mexico (now Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States)
DiedNovember 26, 1904(1904-11-26) (aged 71)
Pinos Wells, New Mexico Territory, U.S. (now near Cedarvale, New Mexico)
Political partyRepublican
ChildrenDolores
RelativesMariano Chaves (father)
EducationColumbia University

José Francisco Chaves (June 27, 1833 – November 26, 1904) was a nineteenth-century military leader, politician, lawyer and rancher from the New Mexico Territory.

Biography

Family

José Francisco Chaves was born on June 27, 1833, in Los Padillas, New Mexico (then in the

Dolores Elizabeth "Lola" Chávez de Armijo, is noted for her successful fight to keep her job as state librarian after Governor William C. McDonald attempted to remove her on the basis that she was a woman.[4]

Early life

José Francisco Chaves attended schools in

St. Louis, Missouri, studied medicine at the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons and engaged in livestock raising in the New Mexico Territory. He married Mary Bowie in 1857, who died in 1874, leaving two children, Lola and Francesca. The former married Mariano Armijo, descendant of a prominent family of Bernalillo County, New Mexico. The latter died in 1895.[5]

Chaves served as a soldier in campaigns against the

Navajos prior to the Civil War. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Governor Connelly commissioned Chaves as major when the 1st Regiment NM Volunteers for the Union Army formed. After Ceran St. Vrain resigned his commission with the 1st, Kit Carson was appointed colonel and Chaves was promoted to lt-colonel.[6] In 1862 he took part in the Battle of Valverde. He was recognized for gallant and meritorious services, and later helped establish Fort Wingate, of which he was post commander for a long period. He was honorably mustered out of the service of the United States in 1865.[7]

Chaves owned an Indigenous girl named Maria in 1860 to "mark his social wealth". It is likely that he abducted the thirteen-year-old girl either during a raid on an Indigenous community or by purchasing her at a rescate (auction). Chavez's mother and step-father owned as many as four enslaved Indigenous children.[8][unreliable source?]

Political career

Returning home he began to study law and in due course was admitted to the bar. In politics he was a staunch Republican and in 1858, while absent campaigning against the Navajos, was elected a member of the House of Representatives of the territorial legislative assembly, taking his seat in 1860. In 1865 he was elected delegate from the New Mexico Territory to the U.S. House of Representatives and served in the 39th and 40th Congresses from 1865 to 1867. He was elected back to the House of Representatives in 1868 and successfully contested the election of Charles P. Clever in 1869, serving again until 1871, being unsuccessful for reelection in 1870. In 1875, he was elected a member of the legislative council from Valencia County and was reelected to every succeeding legislature. Chaves was president of the New Mexico Territorial Council for eight sessions.

Chaves continued in farming and

New Mexico Superintendent of Public Instruction
from 1903 to 1904 and was appointed New Mexico State Historian in 1903.

Death

Chaves career was cut short by an assassination in Pinoswells, New Mexico on November 26, 1904, where he was shot through a window while dining in the home of a friend.[9] The identity of his assassin remains a mystery. He was interred in Santa Fe National Cemetery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

See also

References

  1. ^ Twitchell, Ralph Emerson (1912). The leading facts of New Mexican history, Volume 2. The Torch Press, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1912. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
  2. ISBN 9780865346215
    . Retrieved 13 December 2011. p.123
  3. ^ Twitchell, Leading Facts, p.400
  4. ^ "DONA DELORES CHAVEZ DE ARMIJO". New Mexico Historic Women Marker Initiative. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  5. ^ Twitchell, Leading Facts, p.401
  6. ^ Keleher, Turmoil in New Mexico, p.279
  7. ^ Twitchell, Leading Facts, p.400
  8. ^ Hannigan, Isabel (2018). "Overrun All This Country…" Two New Mexican Lives Through the Nineteenth Century (BA honors thesis). Oberlin College. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
  9. ^ Thompson, Mark. "Who Killed Jose Francisco Chaves?". State of New Mexico, Office of the State Historian. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2011.

Additional references

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Delegate to the
U.S. House of Representatives
from New Mexico Territory's at-large congressional district

1865–1867 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Delegate to the
U.S. House of Representatives
from New Mexico Territory's at-large congressional district

1869–1871 		Succeeded by

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

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